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Democrats' 2020 Field Shaping Up to Be an Entertaining 'Old vs Young' Slugfest

Democrats' 2020 Field Shaping Up To Be an Entertaining 'Old vs Young' Slugfest

About the only consensus to emerge from 2016 was that it was an extraordinarily unusual election cycle, from beginning to end.

One aspect that differentiated the cycle from most in the recent past was the enormity of the Republican field. The primary season kicked off with so many GOP candidates that the debates had to be split into two broadcasts, with the lower-polling members of the field serving as a not-ready-for-prime-time opening act for the main debate.

There was a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth throughout Republican Land about the number of contenders for the title. The early prevailing sentiment was that the pesky B Team contenders were getting in the way of smooth sailing for the complainer's somewhat more mainstream and/or viable candidate.

That lament was voiced most often by the Rubio people, who were relying on a strategy that consisted of little more than than, "He's the best choice because shut up." It was also heard from Cruz supporters, John Kasich's imaginary friend Clive, and the seventeen comatose Republican millionaires who had long ago vowed to vote for whichever Bush was running.

In the end, the size of the field was used by Republicans as an excuse for why Trump became the nominee. They were committed to not admitting why Trump was successful long before the Democrats got around to it.

There were some of us who had a "the more, the merrier" attitude about the number of Republican candidates. It was indicative of a deep bench, after all. Most tended to see it as a liability, however.

As the Democrats look ahead to 2020, they seem to be toying with a potentially large field of their own. The only names that haven't been floated for a run are Hillary Clinton's wine vendor and whichever Kennedy is currently out on bail.

While there were some ideological differences among the Republicans in 2016, the contrast between the Democratic old guard and new blood in 2020 could be entertaining.

For the sake of speculation, let us assume that Bernie Sanders will run as a Democrat if he decides to have another go at the prize he felt was taken from him in 2016, and there are plenty of signs that he plans to run.

That means that at one end of the spectrum, the Party of Youth and Diversity will be offering Sanders and Joe Biden, two extremely white septuagenarians. Even more interesting is the fact that the Democrats and their media mouthpieces have spent the last several months lauding the party's progressive youth movement, yet Crazy Joe the Wonder Veep and Grandpa Freebies are leading the early polling.

Biden could be considered the Democrats' more accomplished version of Jeb Bush: it's a pretty safe bet that all of the old party money will instantly gravitate towards him should he enter the race.